fishing, also called Angling, anglingthe sport of catching fish, freshwater or saltwater, typically with rod, line, and hook. Like hunting, fishing originated as a means of providing food for survival. Fishing as a sport, however, is of considerable antiquity. An Egyptian angling scene of from about 2000 BCBCEshows figures fishing with rod and line and with nets. A Chinese account of from about the 4th century BCBCErefers to fishing with a silk line, a hook made from a needle, and a bamboo rod, with cooked rice as bait. References to fishing are also found in ancient Greek, Assyrian, Roman, and Jewish writings.

Today, fishing, often called sport fishing to distinguish it from commercial fishing, is, despite the growth of towns and the increase of pollution in many sources, one of man’s principal relaxations and in is many countries the most popular participant sportdespite increased human populations creating a great number of demands on rivers and lakes, fishing for sport remains one of the most popular forms of outdoor recreation in the world. The problems of the modern angler are still fundamentally remain the same as those of his ancestorevery angler who came before: where to find fish , and how to approach them, and what sort of bait to usebest tempt them into being taken. The angler must understand wind and weather, the nature of the quarry, and the ways of the water. Fishing remains what it has always been, a been—a problem in applied natural history.

Early history.

The history of angling is in large part the history of tackle, as the equipment for fishing is called.

One of man’s humankind’s earliest tools was the predecessor of the fishhook: a gorge—that is, a gorge: a piece of wood, bone, or stone an 1 inch (2.5 centimetrescm) or so in length, pointed at both ends and secured off-centre to the line. The gorge was covered with some kind of bait. When a fish swallowed the gorge, a pull on the line wedged it across the gullet of the fish, which could then be pulled in.

With the coming advent of the use of metalscopper and bronze, a hook was one of the first tools made from metal. This was attached to a handline hand-operated line made of animal or vegetable material , a method that is efficient only when used from a boatof sufficient strength to hold and land a fish. The practice of attaching the other end of the line in turn to a rod, at first probably a stick or tree branch, made it possible to fish from the bank or shore and even to reach over vegetation bordering the water.

For thousands of over a thousand years, the fishing rod remained short, not more than a few feet (a metre or so) in length. The earliest reference references to a longer, jointed rod is are from Roman times, about the 4th century AD. At that time also, Aelian wrote of Macedonians catching trout on artificial flies and described how each fly was dressed (made). The rod they used was only 6 feet (1.8 metres) long and the line the same length, so that the method used was probably dapping, gently laying the bait on the surface of the waterCE. As with the earliest rods made from streamside branches, the first longer rods were made of wood, which would continue as the dominant rod material well into the 19th century.

The history of the sport in England began with the printing by Wynkyn de Worde of the of Dame Juliana Berners’s A Treatyse of Fysshynge With wyth an Angle (1496) as a part of the second edition of The Boke of St. Albans, which had originally dealt only with hunting. The book . Berners’s work was evidently based on earlier continental Continental treatises dating to the 14th century. The artificial flies , but virtually no records of these previous writings are known. Many of the methods described in the Treatyse are surprisingly modern (six of the dozen mentioned are still in use). The rods are 18–22 feet long with a line of plaited horsehair tied to one end.The and remain in use in some form or another.

The first period of great improvement came about the mid-17th century, when Izaak Walton and Charles Cotton were writing the classic The Compleat Anglerand Col. Robert Venables and Thomas Barker were describing new tackle and methods of fishing. About this time some unknown angler attached (1653). During this time an angler might attach a wire loop or ring at the tip end of the rod, which allowed a free-running line, useful for both casting and playing a hooked fish. Barker in 1667 mentions a salmon-fishing line of 26 yards. What was obviously needed was a This method intensified the need to develop a means of taking up and holding such lengths, and this storing longer lines and led to the invention of the fishing reel.

Experiments with material for the line led to the use of a gut string (mentioned by the diarist Samuel Pepys in 1667) and of a lute string (noted by Col. Robert Venables in 1676). The use of a landing hook, now called a or gaff, for lifting large hooked fish from the water was noted by Thomas Barker in 1667. Improved methods of fishhook making were devised in the 1650s by Charles Kirby, who later invented the Kirby bend, a distinctive shape of hook with an offset point that is still in common use worldwide. Kirby and his fellow hook makers , who were also needle makers, were dispersed from their shops near Old London Bridge by the Plague and the Great Fire of London in 1666, and they ultimately eventually established factories in Redditch around 1730.The first rudimentary reel had consisted of a wooden spool with a metal ring that fitted over the angler’s thumbabout 1730. Redditch remains the current centre of the English hook-manufacturing industry.

While evidence exists that the Chinese developed a rudimentary fishing reel in the 3rd century CE, modern reel design dates back to 18th-century England. The predominant British reel of the day was called the Nottingham reel, based on the wooden lace bobbin devised in the lace-making town of that name. It was a wide-drum, free-spooling reel, ideal for allowing line and bait or lure to float downstream with the current and suitable for certain kinds of sea fishing. By 1770 a rod with guides for the line along its length and a reel was were in common use. The first true modern reel was a geared multiplying reel attached under the rod, in which one turn of the handle moved the spool through several revolutions. Never popular in Great Britain, such reels became the prototype of popular in the United States and inspired the bait-casting reel as devised by two Kentucky watchmakers in the early 1800s. The predominant British reel was called the Nottingham reel, based on the wooden lace bobbin devised in that ancient lacemaking town. It was a wide-drum, ungeared, very free-running reel, ideal for allowing line and bait or lure to float downstream with the current and suitable for casting lures for predatory fish in various kinds of sea fishing. It was influential on the design of fly-fishing reels.Rods were also improved as heavy native woods were superseded by straight-grained, tough, elastic woods, such watchmaker George Snyder in 1810.

About the same time, rod materials were undergoing major changes. Heavy woods native to Britain and the United States were superseded by more-elastic imported woods—such as lancewood and greenheart from South America and the West Indies, and Indies—and by bamboo. By the end of the 18th centurya technique had been developed in which several , bamboo became the rod material of choice. Several strips of bamboo were glued together, retaining the strength and pliancy of the cane but greatly reducing the thickness . Between 1865 and 1870 complete hexagonal rods, made by laminating six triangular strips of bamboo, were and weight of the finished rod. By 1870 bamboo rods were being produced on both sides of the Atlantic.

From After 1880 tackle design evolved rapidly. Horsehair for the fishing line was replaced by silk covered with coats of oxidized linseed oil. Such lines were easily cast and sank heavily if ungreased, or floated if greasedfishing lines gave way to lines made of silk, cotton, or linen. The average angler could cast three times farther with these lines, and such methods as dry-fly and wet-fly fishing became possible. In the Nottingham reel, ebonite (a hard rubber) or metal replaced wood, so that it became even more free-spinning. Since the reel revolved faster than the line runoffthis increased distance helped spur the development of artificial lures. With longer casting capabilities and more line, a considerable tangle (called an overrun in Britain , and a backlash in the U.S.United States) could result. Governors were devised to prevent this. In 1896 William Shakespeare, Jr., of Kalamazoo, Mich., devised the level-wind, which a traveling bracket on the reel that automatically spread the line evenly as it was woundon the reel. In 1880 the firm of Malloch, in Scotland, introduced the first turntable reel, which had one side of the spool open. During casting, the reel was turned 90°, bringing it in line with rod guides, so that the line slipped easily off the end of the spool. For line recovery, the spool was turned back 90°. The reel was used mainly for casting heavy lures for salmon fishing, but it influenced the reel invented by the . The next significant tackle development took place in 1905, when English textile magnate Holden Illingworth , which the British called a filed the first patent on the fixed-spoolreel and the Americans a spinning , or spinning, reel. In this kind of reel, the spool permanently faces up toward the tip of the rod, and the line peels off in during the castas with the Malloch reel. The increased casting distance afforded by the spinning reel—and facilitated by new lines with smaller diameters—revolutionized freshwater fishing.

In the first half of the 20th century, rods became shorter and lighter without sacrificing strength. Split bamboo was largely replaced by fibre glass fibreglass during the period immediately following World War II and finally by carbon fibre as rod materialor graphite in the 1970s. After the 1930s the fixed-spool reel was taken up in Europe and , after World War II , in North America and the rest of the world, thus creating a boom in spin casting. Nylon monofilament line was developed in the late 1930s and became dominant after World War II, as did braided lines in other synthetic materials. Plastic coverings for fly lines allowed them to float or sink without greasingthe application of grease. Plastic also became the dominant material for artificial casting lures, replacing various types of low-density wood, such as balsa.

Methods.

The four five basic methods of angling are bait fishing, fly-fishing, bait castingor , spinning, and trolling. All are used in both freshwater and saltwater angling, but the first and last are most commonly used in saltwater.

Bait fishing, commonly also called still fishing in North America and or bottom fishingin England, is certainly the oldest and most universally used method. In English British freshwater fishing it is used to catch what are called coarse fish: (or rough) fish. These include bream, barbelbarb, tench, dace, and grayling (i.e., all fish but game fish, those that provide the angler with sport by the way they fight capture). other nongame species. A bait is impaled on the hook, which is set “set” by the angler raising the tip of the rod when the fish swallows it. Common baits are in fishing include worms, the maggotsof certain flies, small fish, bread paste, and cheesecheese, and small pieces of vegetables and grain. The bait may be fished on the bottom, weighted down with what is called a ledger in England Britain and a sinker in the United States, usually of lead. In this type of fishing, the angler simply holds the rod or lays it down and waits for the telltale tug of the fish to be transmitted through the line. Bait may also be fished at any desired depth. A buoyant objectby suspending it at a chosen depth under a buoyant object attached to the line that is made of cork or plastic, called a float in England Britain and a bobber in the United States, made of quill, cork, wood, plastic, or a combination, suspends . The angler attempts to suspend the bait at the desired depth. In order to attract fish, what is called ground bait by the British and chum by Americans may be thrown in the water. Chum is commonly soaked bread or meal, to which some of the bait being used on the hook may be added.Rods used are usually 10 to 15 feet a depth where foraging fish will notice it and in locations near the natural hiding places of fish—such as sunken weed beds, logs, and underwater rock formations.

The rods used in still fishing both in North America and Britain are usually 6 to 9 feet (1.8 to 2.7 metres) long, with a fixed-spool reel and monofilament line of 12- to 625-pound (450900- to 211,700300-gram) test strength. In North America, where most of the fish are predatory, still fishing is usually practiced with less specialized tackle, the traditional rod being a long cane poleconventional bait-casting or spinning tackle. Freshwater fish taken by this method include bluegills, crappies, perch, carp, and catfish, as well as bass and walleyes. The most common natural North American baits are worms, minnows, crayfish, cut-up fish, leeches, and grubs or maggots.

Another type of bait fishing, most commonly done in rivers and streams, involves drifting a baited hook into deep pools and beneath in-stream cover (such as logs and rocks) to entice game fish that station themselves in those locations for feeding. Conventional spinning gear is the tackle of choice for this style of fishing.

Ice fishing, through holes cut in frozen lakes, is particularly popular in the northeastern United States and the Great Lakes–St. Lawrence Valley valley region of the U.S. United States and Canada. Equipment is commonly a three-foot rod with a simple reel or a cleatlike device to hold nonfreezing monofilament line and a tilt, or tip-up, to signal when the fish has taken the bait. Fish taken through the ice vary from pan fish panfish (crappies, bluegills, and perch) to larger game fish (pike, walleye, bass, and lake trout). Ice fishing became increasingly popular in the 20th century in Scandinavian and other European countries where heavy freezing permits it.

Fly-fishing is considered by those who use the method to be the highest form of angling, and dry-fly fishermen consider themselves to be the true aristocracy of angling. Fly fishing involved originally the use of live flies, and its art was to lay the fly as lightly and obtrusively near a fish, usually trout, as possible. Artificial flies came into use early, however, and live flies are now only used for dapping, in the periods when the winged forms are emerging from their aquatic nymph stage. Wet-fly fishermen present flies underwater. Later variants include nymph fishing, in which the artificial fly resembles the waterborne form of the insect, and streamer fishing, in which the streamer gives to the fly a fishlike look. The rods for both types of fly fishing are 7–10 feet long. The line is tapered toward the end nearest the fly and is of fairly heavy weight; this makes the casting of the line easier, since the fly itself is virtually weightless. a method of angling employing a rod 7 to 11 feet (2.1 to 3.4 metres) in length, a simple arbor reel, and a heavy plastic-coated line joined to a lighter nylon leader. The rod is used to cast artificial flies—made of hair, feathers, or synthetic materials and designed to imitate the natural food sources of the fish. The fly-fisher snaps the long rod back and forth, allowing the heavier weight of the line to propel the nearly weightless fly forward. The fly needs to land as gently as possible upon the water to avoid startling the fish. A simple reel is used only to contain the line and to help in tiring a hooked fish. Species fished for were first include trout and salmon, but by the second half end of the 20th century virtually all game fishfrom pan fish up , from panfish to muskellunge, were fished for with flies.

Bait casting and spin casting differ essentially only in the type of reelused and , the rod length, and the strength of the line used. Bait casting usually employs a reel with heavier line, often in the 10- to 20-pound (4,500- to 9,000-gram) test range. Most spinning reels are usually spooled with lighter lines in the 6- to 10-pound (2,700- to 4,500-gram) test class. Spinning rods are generally 7–10 feet 6–10 feet (1.8–3.0 metres) long, while the usual length of a bait-casting rod is 5–6 feet . As with fly fishing, bait (1.5–1.8 metres). Bait casting originally used live minnows but grew to use lures in imitation of fish (sometimes crippled fish), as artificial lures—pieces of metal or painted plastic designed to imitate a fish’s natural prey—as well as metal spoons and spinners. The lures are cast in likely fish-rich areas and are retrieved in a manner that allows them to effect a swimming action in the water. Lures vary in weight from 116 to 1 ounce (1.8 to 28 grams) or more. Spinning tackle is usually used with lighter lures, and bait-casting tackle is used with heavier lures.

Trolling involves the use of live bait or artificial lures that are drawn through the water behind a slow-moving boat, originally rowed but now generally motor-powered. Trolling is usually done inland on very large lakes and reservoirs, but it is also the primary method for big-game fishing in the oceans. The method has the advantage of covering a large amount of territory where fish might otherwise be difficult to locate. The correct depth and speed of the lure are crucial in the method. The introduction of sonar equipment in the second half of the 20th century greatly aided trolling, as it did all fishing from boatsincreased the effectiveness of trolling. Rods are usually 5–7 feet (1.5–2.1 metres) long, and lines are heavy, occasionally of metal, with added weights used to get the lure to greater depths. In inland trolling, the rod is held at a right angles angle to the motion of the boat to take advantage of the rod’s resilience when a fish strikes. Lures are much like those used in bait casting. Salmon, large trout, walleye, and pike are the main species fishedfor.

Saltwater fishing

The In saltwater fishing, all the methods mentioned so far previously are all usedin saltwater fishing also, fly fishing being perhaps the least used, although it has become increasingly popular in the second half . Fly-fishing in salt water became very popular during the last quarter of the 20th century. Fishing for saltwater fish Saltwater fishing is done from a beach, off rocks, from a pier, or from a boat, which may vary in size from a rowboat , used in inland waters , to ocean-going oceangoing craft of considerable size. Fish usually caught from shore or by bottom fishing from boats include striped bass, jewfishbluefish, snooktarpon, bonefish, and weakfish.

Big-game fishing

permit. Saltwater anglers fishing from boats take grouper, flounder, snapper, mackerel and many other species by trolling or bottom fishing.

Big-game fishing

, made feasible Made possible by the motorized boat, saltwater big-game fishing was pioneered in 1898 by C.F. Charles Frederick Holder, who took a 183-pound (83-kilogramkg) bluefin tuna off Santa Catalina Island, CalifCalifornia. Fish usually caught by big-game anglers include tuna, marlin, swordfish, and shark. Big-game fishing spread to the Atlantic, and catches of increasing size were made on relatively light tackle and line, especially after the invention of a reel with an internal drag by Julius von Hofe of Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1913. Big-game anglers fish from fighting seats “fighting seats” into which they can be strapped. Rods are massive, and the butts fit into a socket mounted on the chair. Reels are large, and the line is usually of Dacron or Terylene nylon with a wire leader near the hook to prevent the large teeth of the fish from shearing the line.

The establishment of the International Game Fish Association (IGFA) in 1939 did much to promote big-game fishing and to regulate it, supervising it—supervising marine - fishing competitions, establishing various weight categories for lines, and keeping championship records. It The IGFA also promoted scientific study by encouraging the tagging of released fish to establish fish habitat patterns and by working for conservation of endangered species. In 1978 the association also took over the keeping of freshwater fishing records.

Casting Competitive casting is an adjunct sport, much as shooting is for hunting, under the supervision of the International Casting Sport Federation (founded 1955), with member groups in about 30 countries in the late 20th century. It sponsors tournaments and recognizes world records for accuracy and distance.

State of fishing.

In the last quarter of the 20th century, fishing was thriving. The growth of air travel after World War II made many areas of North America and elsewhere accessible to anglers and introduced them to new Competitions are held with both bait-casting and fly tackle.

Recent trends in fishing

At the turn of the 21st century, sport fishing was thriving. It was estimated that about 40 million Americans spent at least one day per year fishing, and their combined expenditures on tackle, travel, and lodging pumped approximately $45 billion annually into the U.S. economy. Because of less public angling access in Great Britain and continental Europe, there are fewer anglers, but large numbers of people there do fish. The greater availability of air travel has increased anglers’ access to many areas of the world and introduced them to new sport fish, such as the dorado of Argentina and South America, the tigerfish of Central Africa.Emphasis continued on increasingly lighter tackle for both saltwater and freshwater fishing. Bonefish in shallow coastal waters was a particularly popular quarry with fly-fishing anglers, and fly-fishing records were also established on the open seathe inconnu of northern North America and Asia. Hardly a species of any size did importance does not have its anglers somewhere; for instance, angling devotees somewhere. Even the carp, long considered a pest “trash fish” in North American waters, is fished for widely in Europe. Old favourites remained popular, among them America, has a considerable following. The traditionally popular species remain so, particularly salmon and trout in all varieties; and bass fishing became so popular and, in North America, the largemouth bass—the most popular game fish in the United States, so popular that boats for bass fishing were are specially designed, and professional competitions produced an elite there are numerous tours of professional associations of bass anglers .

Both fishing organizations and individual anglers promoted a catch-and-return policy, so that only fish of trophy or record size were kept by many anglers.

that often have their competitions broadcast on cable television.

A strong emphasis on fisheries conservation and the wise management of fish stocks by both anglers and professional fisheries managers aim to ensure that recreational fishing will continue to thrive for many years to come. For example, catch-and-release angling became increasingly popular since the late 20th century. In many areas of the United States and Canada, individual lakes and streams are increasingly managed for lower catch limits and for habitat quality. Owing to angler demand, fisheries management emphasis continues to shift from management by stocking or replenishing lakes and streams to enhancing existing water quality and habitat so that species found in a body of water can better thrive through natural recruitment and reproduction.